Melo penalty save receives international attention

Galatasaray defensive midfielder Felipe Melo reserved a spot for himself in the international sports media after he saved the day for his team as goalkeeper during Saturday evening's domestic league game against Sanica Boru Elazığspor.

Melo wore the gloves of goalie Fernando Muslera after the Uruguayan was shown the red card in the last minute of the game and stood in goal to face a penalty when Galatasaray was 1-0 up. He palmed the shot of Elazığspor's Göksu Türkdoğan out and celebrated the save with his famous “Pitbull walk.” A Daily Mail report defined his celebration as “pulling a silly face.”

British, Brazilian, Romanian, Chinese and Italian media outlets were among those that reported Melo's save internationally.

Melo was in goal on a previous occasion while he was wearing the jersey of Spain's Racing Santander. That time Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho, was to kick the ball. Melo was not lucky that time and Barcelona won the game 3-0 with Ronaldinho's penalty shot.